--- ModNation Racers ---
^ original picture credit: charleshamel.com - ModNation Racers.
This video is a preview of what ModNation Racers is all about:
A little warning before beginning this review...
GAME NOTE: Install is mandatory, so are updates (which took up to six hours for me)
For whatever reason, there are some people who just can't get into racing games. I guess a lot of people think that it's all about crashing and stuff. Maybe some get tired of super-realistic graphics and racing. ModNation Racers, then, is a very casual arcadish racing game. Mods and karts can be created and shared with the world. They can be downloaded, or you can upload your own creations. This is essentially a racing game for many people of many audiences to play and enjoy.
Anyone who's ever played a cartoonish racing game knows that weapons and items play a big part of the action. This one does NOT disappoint in that department. Up to 12 karts can do battle on any track in the game. Collect tokens to unlock new items randomly. Fill up that boost meter by pulling off insane stunts, doing some sideswiping, getting some air time, and things like that.
If you fancy a storyline, try the ModNation Racing Championship. Complete all the tasks as you compete in a very nice storyline You have to place 3rd or better to advance through most of the races. You MUST win some races (especially the final ones) to advance through certain tours. Regardless of the kart and mod you use, you will be referred to as Tag (the original guy you start out with).
The ModSpot.
The ModSpot features all the different items to use for interacting with others and setting up races. Visit the Creation Station to create, share, and edit your content. You can even download content from others. You will spend loads of time here unless you prefer racing. See the Top Karts to view info on some of the hottest karts being used from other players. You can even download them to your collection if you like them. You can even vote on karts. The Top Mods are some of the best of-the-moment mods. They can also be downloaded or viewed as well as being voted on. Use the Coming Attractions to check out some of the latest downloadable Mods, Karts, available to be downloaded and/or bought. You can view some of the top players and tracks by checking out some of the Top Players section. See who all are at the ModSpot at present by visiting the Current ModSpot. Find out what all tracks are some of the finest by visiting the Top Tracks section. You can even join certain races featured here. Or, you may attempt to beat the top lap times for courses by going to the Top Tracks section.Finally, go racing by going through to the Race Station. Set up races by going to the Online gate, do quick races through the Quick Race gate, have some split-screen racing by racing with the Split Screen gate, or go on with your Career going to the Career gate.
The Boom Box.
Your kart is equipped with a weapon stock called the Boom Box. This Boom Box allows you to store and use weapons. Across the track are Item Pods. When you collect one, a random item will show up. If you run through more Item Pods while you still have an item stocked, that item will be upgraded. All items can be upgraded up to three levels. It is similar to driving through the same kind of balloons in Diddy Kong Racing with a certain item. If you fear you are being followed, you may drop the weapon behind you so that oncoming racers can take some damage. Any racer(s) that ends up hitting your dropped item will all take damage.Shields.
Rather than take pain, why not guard against it? Every kart has a shield you can activate as long as you have enough Boost. You will know when to use your boost when an oncoming weapon is being fired in your direction followed by loud beeping noises. When the beeping is at its loudest, activate your shield (granted you have enough Boost energy) to guard against the attack. You can even guard while in mid-air.Online Play.
ModNation Racers can best be enjoyed when online. Take your game to the next level by connecting to certain rooms where either Casual Races or XP Races are done. XP is your experience points deal in ModNation Racers. The faster you go, the better you finish, and the more stunts you pull off; the more XP you earn. You'll have to earn certain amounts of XP to get certain PSN trophies. If you want the most intense experience in the game, go play online!When you start a new game, you can choose to either go straight to continue your career, go to the ModSpot, or go straight to the Creation Station.
That covers most of the basics. Let's delve further into the game.
--- ModNation Racers: Modding! ---
ModNation Racers was not designed to be a game that you have no control over customizing. You don't have to race exclusively with the karts or mods offered to you right from the package. Be unique! Make your own mods and karts using parts you've unlocked or bought from the game. Let the Creation Station be your best friend.NOTE: If you see a green triangle when selecting parts/items in the Creation Station, you can buy these items from the PlayStation Store.
Mods.
The Mods are the characters who drive the karts and are the public faces of MRC racing. The developer, United Front Games (UFG), gives you some Mods to use in your racing, and you can unlock more when you start doing Grudge Matches against certain Mods. Everything about each Mod can be customized from his/her/its appearance to his/her/its voice. Here are the basic points for creating your own Mod.You can either make a new Mod, select a Mod you've created/downloaded, or edit your current Mod. For the purpose of adding useful material to this blog post, I will show you what is available when making a new mod.
A new Mod is just a Mod all colored up in white. Boring, right? You can either start from scratch or have the game Randomize your Mod. Now the basic elements you can edit (counterclockwise/anti-clockwise from top):
Mods » Options
• Skins
• Head
• Clothes
• Stickers
• Odds 'n Ends
• Voice
• Save
--- Clarification of Mod Options ---
Customize the Skin of your Mod. Choose from a variety of patterns, or simply press [Triangle] to edit the colors of your Mod. You can also edit the Material Properties of your Mod based on the skin you use. The only one I notice and can discuss is the top option, which makes your Mod appear more metallic and glossy.
Your Mod's Head can be customized with many different options. You can give your Mod a set of eyes, a mouth, a nose, ears, hair, and facial hair. Mix and match these options to give the desired result. You can then change the color and other parameters for your Mod's head.
Clothes help dress up your Mod. Give him/her/it some bottoms to wear, some tops to wear, headgear, headgear accessories, eyewear, handwear, and footwear. This is where your mod is clothed with items you give it. So go ahead and dress up your Mod however you like!
If you want to add Stickers to your Mod, you can! These stickers range from basic shapes to logos. Find some items to suit your Mod. Place these graphics on the Mod's body, head, helmet, either arm, or either leg. Sticker sets can be affixed and saved for future reference and modding. Sticker sets can even be saved and loaded.
Odds 'n Ends can be added to the face and head of your Mod. Try out the many unique items to dress up your Mod's head.
Bring your Mod to life by giving it a Voice. Choose from the many available voices (16 in all) to give your Mod the opportunity to speak.
If you're happy with your Mod, Save it. If editing an existing Mod you have created, then make sure not to save a Copy for it. The game will add numbers at the end if you create one Mod. For example, if I created a Mod called "JohnDoe," my edits would be saved as "JohnDoe2." So remove the number to overwrite your Mod (if you choose to overwrite your previously-saved Mod).
Have fun modding!
Karts.
Without a kart, your Mod is just... a Mod. Personalize your racing machine in this game by choosing or making karts! Like Mods, karts can also be adorned with all the different items and skins to make them stand out. Here is a look (counterclockwise/anti-clockwise from top):You can make a new kart, select an existing/downloaded kart, or edit a currently-used kart. I will make a new kart to demonstrate the available options.
A new kart just has the basic elements- the frame, the steering wheel, the pedals, a kart seat, the engine, tires, and wheels. Like with Mods, you can Randomize a kart, or you can start from scratch.
Kart » Options:
• Bodies
• Paint (not available unless you choose a Body)
• Parts
• Accessories (not available unless you choose a Body)
• Save
--- Clarification of Kart Options ---
This a look at each option available for karts.
Pick a Body for your kart. These bodies come in a variety of categories, and many of them even loosely resemble real-world cars. Or be REALLY unique and look at the various Silly Bodies. You can colorize the basic body color(s) and even change up the Material Properties to give it a unique material look.
The Paint options include both Patterns and Colors as well as Stickers. Pick a pattern from a diverse set of patterns to colorize your car. Then, take those pattern colors and change up the color style. Further colorize your kart with a set of stickers. The stickers can be added to the hood, either side of the kart, the front panel, the license plate, or the spoiler.
Parts are all the different bits that can be used to set up your kart. Give your kart any variety of engines to give it that growl. There are also some fantasy ones that range from cool to weird. Give your kart a unique Suspension setup ranging from stock to jacked up, lowered, or even open-wheel suspensions. Give your tires a set of wheels. The wheel set are for all four tires, so you can't have one set of wheels up front followed by a different set at the rear. Change up the seat to whatever you like best. The steering wheel can be changed up to match your tastes and style. Each kart has some sort of spoiler. Find your style here. Finally, go with a nice license plate that can be customized in a variety of styles.
Add accessories to jazz up your kart some from any number of angles. Accessories can be added to the hood, either side panel, and either the front or rear panels.
Save your kart if you're happy with your creation.
Tracks.
I lack experience in making tracks, so I will be mostly brief here. You can build tracks either to practice your skills or to make for the Internet.• Themes
Begin by selecting a theme- Alpine, Desert, Seaside, or Jungle. If you have bought them, you may also use the Far East and/or Big City themes.
• BASIC OPTIONS:
Lay track by simply driving around. Sculpt Terrain to set up the physical attributes of your course. Control the Elements to set up elements like time of day, cloud cover, wind, and the water level.
• Populate Track
Have track elements automatically set up, or manually create the props for your course.
• AFTER CREATED OPTIONS
Edit the track to edit its finer points. Go for a Test Drive to test out your track in action, or do a Test Race to set up a race around your newly-created track. Need help? Use the Tutorials to help you out. Use Preview Mode to set up a Preview of your track.
• Edit Options
Mod Track to modify your track's settings manually. Many options exist for road types as well as breadcrumbs (essential for making shortcuts). Place Props (automatically or manually) to help set up and dress up your track. Mod Terrain to set up the physical aspects of your course with many options. Auto Populate to set up all the props around your track and on your track. Finally, Global Change sets up the entirety of your course.
Again, I'm sorry I have not a lot of experience making tracks. So I want you to use other resources to help you in track building.
Shop Station.
Buy items from PlayStation Store or redeem your Tokens to unlock items at random. You can only get Tokens by finding them in all of the tracks in Career Mode. Each track has five Tokens to collect. Find all of them to be able to purchase all items in the game. And in case you're wondering, there are 140 of them. You even can get a PSN Trophy for finding all 140 Tokens.Share.
As it says, you can share your creations with other ModNation Racers gamers, or you can upload your content to the Internet. The Share facility makes it all possible. Put your creations out there by using the Publish feature. Download content made by others by using the Download feature. If you have uploaded content, you can always Manage Creations to keep tabs on your work.There is your look at the Creation Station options! Oh... there is one important note I forgot to mention- you can file "Good Grief" reports to report unruly users or Mods on ModNation Racers. Help the game crew keep ModNation Racers fun for everyone by filing reports against objectionable content.
--- ModNation Racers: MRC Career ---
Want to be the best ModNation Racer in the land? Prove yourself in the Career Mode. You will take part in five different tours including two more you have to purchase. You will take part in a unique storyline where you build your racing career. I won't give you too many details, but this is a game that doesn't seriously bound you to the storyline to where it isn't as fun to play. There are five tours (including two that must be purchased). You begin in the Home Tour, where you will hone your skills. The Career Mode doesn't get real interesting until you clear the Home Tour. After that, you will be facing many unique opponents. Some of which, you need to take down to unlock some extras. For many of the races, a finish of 3rd or better is required to advance to the next event. After the Home Tour, you MUST win the final race of each Tour to advance to the next Tour. Otherwise, you must try again until you finally win the final race of every Tour (except the Home Tour, which doesn't require a 1st Place finish). All racing events have certain objectives you must clear to unlock more items, and you must win the race while performing the certain tasks successfully. You can always try again if you fail to complete a given objective the first time. Complete all given objectives of a race that has a certain rival featured, and you challenge that rival to a Grudge Match. This is where it's just you vs. a certain rival. Beat that rival to unlock more items including that rival and his/her kart.
You can race each Tour stage as many times as you like to unlock all items. That even includes finding all five Tokens in each level. A tour can have as few as four stages and as many as eight. If you have purchased the Far East Theme Pack and/or the Big City Theme Pack, you will have more races you can take part in to enhance your ModNation Racers gaming experience.
--- ModNation Racers: Overall Review ---
When you eventually get to play, you really get to enjoy all this game has to offer. It took me a total of about six hours to have the game installed to my PS3 followed by the ten updates to bring it up to date. So a lot of time slips away before you can eventually play the game. You MUST have the game installed, and you MUST be logged in to PlayStation Network to play.• Its customization is among the best of any racing game I've ever played- including the TrackMania series. Never have I enjoyed making both characters and racing machines than in this game. United Front Games did an amazing job with everything. Even those who love racing games anyways (like I do) will find plenty to love.
• The on-track action is insane. If you think the Mario Kart games are hard-hitting, then you haven't seen ANYTHING yet than when you play this one. I do, sometimes, think I'm still playing a Mario Kart game because I often wished I could fire a blue shell to take out the leader. But the action here is hard-hitting and fun. No shortage of action when you have many homing missiles and lightning bolts being sent your way. You can even sideswipe your opponents if you have boost. Basically, this game is like a Burnout game on the action front, only much more fun and accessible than a Burnout game. This ain't your ki
• The music and sounds are amazing. I love the music that plays in this game. Certain items you choose as your engine noise can be great to listen to.
• In my online play, I didn't notice any severe moments of lag. Everything ran smoothly. It was fun mixing it up against other racers.
• I can't stop laughing at some of the commentary! The comments made by the announce team of Biff Tradwell and Gary Reasons is nothing short of funny. Your crew chief is also very funny as well. It usually never gets old. The commercials and cutscenes are also very funny.
This game's greatest flaw is the long load times and even longer updates. I think if this game was a lot more efficient in its design and execution, it would be outstanding. Then again, that can be a fatal flaw in games where you can create your own content. You have to note that a game that allows you to create your own material will likely be massive because so much goes into customizing everything and making everything customizable for gamers. So you can say that it comes with the territory, but I think with some better efficiency, this game would be absolutely tough to beat.
In Conclusion...
The setup may be extreme for ModNation Racers, but the payoff is a great racing game anyone bestowed with a PlayStation 3, a broadband connection, and a PSN account can enjoy for a long time. There is no denying this is a great racing game for racing game fans. The action is incredible, and even more incredible are all the various options to create and share Mods, Karts, and Tracks. This game will not get old any time soon. So go get this game and let time waste away positively!Did you enjoy my review? Learn more about ModNation Racers by visiting ModNation Racers' official home page at www.modnation.com. You can also visit the official YouTube channel of MNR (TheModNationChannel) to show your love for ModNation Racers on YouTube. Get ModNation Racers on Amazon by clicking on this (I would appreciate it if you bought this game from Amazon if you love my review):
^ (also available for Sony PSP and Sony PSP PSN Code)
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